Dragons are cool!
by Tiger97
Summary: Charlie, the single, dragon-taming Weasley, never thought he would make a good father-figure. But when he meets 12-year-old Lydia at the Ministry one day, he starts to question his thoughts. *This is my first story in English, I'm from Sweden.


**My first story in English... Hope you like it!**

* * *

Charlie Weasley sat outside an office in the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain. He was only there for a visit; he still lived in Romania. Still single, still childless, unlike the rest of his family. But he did have the best job in the world. (I mean, working with dragons; how cool isn't that?) It was actually his job that got him to the Ministry this sunny morning in June. He had to talk to some people of the department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They had started, but then the guy needed to check up some facts. He had told Charlie to wait outside, so that was why he sat there.

"Sit here for a while."

Charlie looked up and saw a young Ministry-worker pointing to the seat beside him. The little girl that he'd talked to nodded and sat down. The man disappeared into an office further down the corridor. Charlie looked at the girl beside him. She must have been around 12, with short light brown hair that stood in every direction. She was wearing muggleclothing; jeans, a green shirt and a jeans jacket. She held her eyes on the floor, though. Charlie thought she looked a bit too unhappy, so he said:

"Hi, I'm Charlie."

The girl looked up.

"Really? That's interesting", she said sarcastically.

"Ouch", Charlie grinned and he could have sworn that the girl almost smiled to.

"So who are you?" he asked.

The girl looked at him suspiciously.

"Why do you have so many burns?" she asked instead of answering.

"Because I work with dragons", he answered.

"Really?!" He now had the girl's full attention.

"Yeah", he said, grinning.

"Where? I didn't think there were many dragons in England?"

"No, I work in Romania."

"That's so cool!"

"I know, isn't it?"

The girl looked at him in wonder for a while.

"I'm Lydia", she finally said.

"Nice to meet you, Lydia", Charlie said and shook her hand. "So what are you doing at the Ministry a morning like this?"

"They're going to find me somewhere to live", she answered. "The couple that I've been living with the last few years are going to have a baby so they don't want me around anymore."

Charlie figured the girl didn't have any parents.

"So you're not adopted?" he asked because surly that couple wouldn't give her away if they had adopted her.

"Nope", Lydia answered. "They just took me in while the Ministry-dudes tried found someone who wanted to adopt me. They didn't though, because it's to late."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"I mean I'm thirteen. No one wants to adopt a thirteen-year-old. They all want babies or at least toddlers."

Charlie sat in silence for a moment. He thought briefly of how much the girl let him know, even though they just met. Just a minute ago, she hadn't even wanted to tell him her name. But then he said he worked with dragons…

"So you go to Hogwarts?" Charlie asked just to change the subject.

"Yes", Lydia said. "Just finished second year."

"Which house?"

"Ravenclaw. Did you go there?"

"Yes, but I was a Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor stinks", Lydia said playfully.

"No it doesn't!" Charlie exclaimed.

Lydia laughed.

"So, your favourite subject?" he then asked.

"I'll answer if you answer too."

"Ok", he said. "Care of Magical Creatures."

"Figures", she smiled. "I would probably say… Potions."

"Really?!" Charlie exclaimed before he realised she didn't have Snape as a teacher, like he had. "Oh. What teacher do you have?"

"Professor Williams."

"Aha", he said though he had no idea who that was. "You know, two of my nephews should be in your year."  
"Really? What are their names?"

"James Potter and Fred Weasley. Gryffindor."

"Oh, yeah. I know who they are. They are the people who manage to turn the main stairs into a waterslide."

Charlie snorted. "Yep, that's them."

"I want to meet a dragon", Lydia said after a moment of silence.

"Well I can't show you a real dragon, but if we'll meet again I can show you some pictures that I took."

"Really?" Lydia asked, exited.

Charlie grinned and nodded.

"Charlie!"

Charlie turned and saw his dad coming over.

"Hi dad! What are you doing here?" Charlie asked.

"Well I was suppose to meet an old friend for lun…" Arthur began to say before a voice boomed:

"Arthur!"

A slightly bald, older wizard came from the other way.

"I'm sorry, Arthur, I have to cancel lunch", he said.

"Oh, did something come up?"

"Yes. I'm in charge of this one", he said and turned to Lydia. "And the couple that have agreed to take you in are stuck in Brazil…"

"They don't want me?" Lydia interrupted.

"No, they do want you! It's just that they aren't going to be home until Saturday so I have to find you a place for you to stay these three days."

"Can't she stay with us?" Charlie asked and the other three turned to him.

"Of course!" Arthur said. "I mean the Burrow is empty except for the wife and me and Charlie, of course."

Lydia brightened up quite a bit when Arthur mentioned Charlie.

"Really? Would you do that?" the bald man asked.

"It's only for a couple of days and it's a bit quiet at home anyway", Arthur said.

"Would you be okay with that, Lydia?" the man asked.

"Yes!" Lydia answered at ones and Charlie grinned.

"Great!" Arthur said. "I'm just going to floo Molly and ask her, but I can't see she's going to disagree."

"Weasley?"  
The man from department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was back with a stack of papers.

"Got to go", Charlie said and rose to his feet. "Hopefully I'll see you at home." He grinned at Lydia and walked into the office.

When Charlie opened the door to the Burrow, later that day, he smiled when saw Lydia's jeans jacket on one of the hangers.

**One year later**

The familiar train pulled in. Doors opened and students came out to meet their families. Charlie stood next to his older brother, happy to have someone to pick up. Louis showed up first, with Molly. Molly greeted them and disappeared to find her parents.

"Charlie!" Lydia waved as she walked down from the train. Charlie smiled and waved back. He watched her as she said goodbye to her friends.

The same night as the adoption papers were done, she had asked what she should call him. She was technically his daughter, but she already had a father. The one in the picture frame on her nightstand. The one that died years ago. Charlie had told her she could call him whatever she liked. He didn't have to be her father, he could be her uncle or just Charlie, if she'd like. She had smiled and said: "Just Charlie, then."

It'd been a year, almost exactly, since he first met her.

"Ready to go?" He asked as she came up to him.

"Yep", she answered. "To Romania, we go!"

Yeah, it'd been a good year.


End file.
